Sears Travel Explains: How To Find the Cheapest Airfare In 2017

Sears Vacations05.23.2017

To snag the best deals on flights, these ingenious online platforms will do the searching for you.

If you’re determined to find the absolute best flight deals available, you’ll want access to as many booking options as possible. Fortunately, there are more than a few websites designed to help you do just that. Here are our five favorites:

ITA Software’s Matrix Airfare Search allows for a wide range of search options, so you can tailor your browsing to the exact type of flight that you need. It’s divided into three categories: round trip, one way, and multi-city. You can search for specific departure dates, or use the software’s calendar service, which displays the days that have the lowest airfares. You can even use a cost-per-mile filter, or compare flights at a glance using a color-coded display. Matrix also allows you to select what type of passengers you’ll be traveling with and how many, from standard adults to seniors or even infants flying on laps.

You cannot make a flight purchase directly through the Matrix Airfare Search, but you can share the information you’ve found with your preferred travel agent or airline when making your booking.

In a very similar fashion, Skyscanner offers an easy-to-use index of flight options that can be accessed via mobile app or web browser. When you first visit the Skyscanner site, you’ll find a bevy of popular travel destinations to choose from, which you can click to reveal the available airfare and hotel options (or, you can search for more specific destinations). Once you’ve found the perfect flight, Skyscanner directs you to the airline’s website to complete your booking.

Their site is careful to mention that their search engine is 100% unbiased, and its more than 50 million mobile users leave thousands of reviews so that you can make an informed choice before buying any tickets.

While Airfare Watchdog also offers an index of flights and a mobile alert subscription system, it has a few features that most other sites don’t: a similar index for hotel listings, and a dedicated guidebook to help you decide between the multitude of travel credit cards that exist today. Their site also includes an amazingly detailed list of the baggage fee policies for each airline, which should provide a more complete picture of what you can expect to pay for your next flight.

Momondo is a flight comparison site that searches across airlines, travel sites, and other outlets in order to present the cheapest rates out of billions of options. You can search by date, flight class, location, number of passengers, and more. For those using currencies other than the dollar, Momondo has international versions of its site available in countless languages. Momondo is not a travel agency, however, and you cannot book through their site.

Last but definitely not least, Sears Travel is another excellent online travel research option available to our members. Our convenient search engine indexes exclusive travel deals with all of our partner organizations — plus, we offer a Lowest Price Guarantee! So, even if you find market rates that beat ours, we’ll be happy to match the price.

Of course, to save even more money, you can book your entire vacation through Sears Travel — from the plane ticket to your hotel to guided tours at your destination. The more frequently you book through Sears Travel, the more Travel Bucks you’ll earn: these members-only reward Bucks will be automatically added to your account any time you book with us, and they can be applied to any future purchase (with no blackout dates). Signing up for a membership is free, and you’ll even earn Travel Bucks upfront — so, what are you waiting for? Book your dream trip today!